Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Moving right along with things France and 1940, here is a desperately simple and cheerfully cheap French Army staff car conversion consisting of a Matchbox diecast 1933 Plymouth Sedan repainted as a requisitioned civilian vehicle in the service of a DLM (The FAA French sentry is for scale):

The camouflage pattern is cribbed from a recent reconstruction of the paint scheme used on the Lorraine 28 4x6 troop carriers used by 1e DLM in May-June 1940.  


The grid squares are 1 inch x 1 inch...

 The various insignia are a variety of decals mainly 1998-vintage Aleran Decals that I have had since *1998*...
 Happily most of the old decals were still in more or less working order...


 Interestingly enough, due to equipment shortages the French Army of 1939-40 requisitioned hundreds of civilian cars to make up the difference. Most were used in various secondary and higher echelon command roles, but a number of them were also used by motorized reconnaissance units to transport the M1914 Hotchkiss heavy machine guns due to shortages of the standardized motorcycle sidecar combinations. 

The cars proved superior to the motorcycle combos as they offered a more comfortable, less fatiguing ride for the gun crews, with the added advantage that more ammunition could be carried than on a motorcycle sidecar combo.


 "Oui, mon colonel! Your car is ready!"




3 comments:

  1. I keep looking for Matchbox cars to do just this, but I've been largely unsuccessful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brilliant inspiring work THANKS for sharing I have several vehicle's that would benefit from this scheme

    ReplyDelete
  3. Excellent use of a Matchbox toy! May I ask how you did the repaint? I would hate to use paint-stripping chemicals like brake fluid which are aggressive against skin and environment.

    ReplyDelete